Meet Raul Chavez, 10-year-old speed demon

Raul Chavez, 10, started getting involved in track two years ago at Banneker Elementary School in Middleburg. "They told him he was fast," said his father Isidro Chavez.

They may be telling Raul he's fast for a long time.

A lean, mean running machine, the youthful Chavez recently won the youth 9-10 title in the 400 meters at the state Hershey's Track and Field Championships in Charlottesville.

Chavez won in 1:09, beating the runnerup by three seconds. The race featured eight runners from around Virginia.

Chavez's time beat champions from six other states in the Southeast Region. Unfortunately, runners from Georgia (1:03.36) and Florida (1:07.52) were faster and Chavez did not qualify for the upcoming Hershey's Track Nationals — although there is still an outside chance he could go.

Paul Berryman, the Hershey's track state coordinator, was impressed with Chavez. "If one of those two from Georgia or Florida cannot go to nationals, he could be competitive with that time," Berryman said.

Chavez, who lives in Marshall, has also run a 6:10 mile.

Chavez won twice to get to Charlottesville, taking Hershey's local and district titles in the 400.

He was nervous before the state meet. A talk with his father about race strategy helped him, he said.

'"I started off fast and in the middle I did some fast jogging. Then in the last 100 meters I went fast," Raul said.

Mexico has a strong tradition of producing distance runners, and Chavez is of Mexican descent. His father is from Zacatecas, a northwestern region known for producing silver. Isidro came to the United States in 1992, and now manages a farm.

Raul, who has dark black hair and big soulful eyes, says he plans to continue running, and playing soccer, his first love.

He will be a fifth grader this fall at Claude Thompson Elementary, and is projected to attend Marshall Middle and then Fauquier High.